Little Entrepreneur

This week in school they have been talking about feelings and on Thursday they talked about being surprised.  They got to open a present that had balloons in it.  What a fun day, Reagan loves preschool so much!

 Later on that afternoon, Reagan was quietly entertaining herself.  I went and checked on her and I found toys laid out on her bed all with tags next to them.  When I asked her what she was doing, she told me that it was her store.  She is so fun and so creative.

 Busy writing out her 'tags'



XBOX

Oakley is becoming much more mobile.  He can't quite crawl, yet, but he can roll, scootch on his back and army crawl to anything he wants.  Lately he has been really mesmerized by Bruce's XBOX paddles.  The other day I left him in the family room while I went and put away some laundry and I am back to him across the room tangled in all of the XBOX stuff!  I am sure that he will be playing the XBOX in no time at all!



100 days of school

This week the Kindergarten celebrated 100's day.  On Monday (or maybe it was Tuesday) Owen came home from school.  He was so excited.  He said, "Guess what mom, there is only one more day of Kindergarten left, then I go to First grade!"

I guess, for what ever reason, Owen thought that there was only 100 days of school.  I tried to explain to him that he would be in Kindergarten until Oakley turns one.  He just laughed and shook his head and said, "You'll see mom, I only have one more day of Kindergarten."  I decided to just drop the subject because I could see I was getting no where with it.  In time he would find out that he wasn't going to First grade, yet.

On Thursday when he came home from school I asked him how First grade was.  He told me, a little embarrassed, that he was still in Kindergarten and that he goes to school for more than 100 days.  Man, I love this boy! 

Watching TV

Oakley is a born couch potato.  At just a few weeks old he would sit and watch TV.  It's weird because none of my other kids even noticed the TV until they were at least 2 or 3.  Oakley loves to watch sports most of all, basketball and football games are his favorites (such a boy thing).

I loved it when I found Oakley and Reagan snuggled up together watching Finding Nemo.  Reagan loves taking care of Oakley, sometimes she gets in trouble because she is bugging him too much.  I am so glad that she is such a good helper.

Valentine's Day

This year Valentine's day wasn't a very big deal.  Trying to take care of Oakley was our first priority.  While I was at the Dr with Oaks, thankfully Bruce can be home to take care of the ones at home.  (I took the day off from babysitting because I knew that he was pretty sick and I didn't want all little ones getting sick).  Bruce was able to spend the afternoon with Owen and Reagan (once they got out of school).  He took them out to lunch to Subway then they headed out to try to find roses.  They got me a dozen red roses.  Then Bruce always has Owen get each of his sisters a single rose.  Well this year they couldn't find any single roses so the girls got a dozen pink roses to share.  I love that Bruce is teaching Owen at a young age that girls love to get flowers!

Later on in the afternoon, Bruce and I were discussing what to have for dinner, since I was pretty much consumed with holding Oakley all day.  We both had the idea to make heart shaped pancakes.  We found some red food coloring to make them pink!  The kids were so excited.  I think that we have a new Valentine's dinner tradition!

My sick baby

My little baby has been so sick.  He's had a cold for a week or so now but then thursday night he started running a fever of 101 so I decided to get him into the doctor on friday.  They had an appointment first thing in the morning so I took it, the doctor said that his lungs were very wheezy and raspy but everything else looked normal so he said that he had RSV.  He told me to look for signs of dehydration and problems breathing.

Later on that evening he was having a harder time breathing so I called over to the doctor and they were able to get me in before they closed.  I saw another doctor who agreed with the first doctor that he had RSV, he sent me home with some albuterol to be delivered by the nebulizer.  Again, if he got worse I was to bring him in.

The weekend rolled along and he had good moments and bad moments then sunday night he ran a fever of 103 most of the night, everytime I tried to give him medicine he just would throw it up.  We were up at 2:30 and he could not go back to sleep, he just would cry and whimper all night. 

I got him back into the doctor monday morning and this time it was with our regular doctor, who we love.  He checked him all out, he looked in one ear and said that it was badly infected and then he looked in the other and he said that one was worse!  He watched him breathing and was concerned, he sent us to get blood work and x-ray's done. 

Oakley was so good, he let out a little whimper when they stuck him for the blood work and again he didn't cry when the took the chest x-rays.  Either he is way tough or he was just too weak to cry.

The x-rays were conclusive that he did indeed have RSV, the blood work was normal for a little boy who was fighting off infection.  In the end he treated him for the ear infections.  Told me that even though he looks bad he was doing pretty good.  I got his antibiotic and started it right away.  Monday night was much better.  He still woke up three or four times but he just nursed and went right back to sleep. 

Today he is actually sitting up and wanting to play.  He still doesn't want me to put him down, which makes it hard to do my chores, but that's okay, chores can wait!  I am so thankful for antibiotics, Oakley is far from better but he is getting better a little at a time!

He's greased up because his little nose is so raw from us wiping it constantly plus his eczema has started to flare up again!

Alek's birthday party

My nephew Alek always celebrates his birthday at Chuck-E-Cheeses.  This year was no exception.  The kids had fun but it was so hot with so many little bodies running around.  Reagan was a little freaked out by Chuckie but after eating her pizza she calmed down and played.  Owen and Alek ran around playing game after game, they really had so much fun.  Morgan and Sadie stuck together and earned lots and lots of tickets.  Bailey and Chase played some games but poor Chase wasn't feeling very good so they just hung out around the tables mostly.  We totally forgot about grabbing a stroller for Oakley until we were half way there but luckly we ran into the Taylor's and they happened to have an umbrella stroller in the back of their car that they were willing to let me borrow, unfortunatly Oakley decided to have a blow-out all over the stroller, and I didn't have any extra clothes packed.  Good thing Target is just across the street so I was able to run over there and get him some new clothes. 

The kids had so much fun.  Good thing it's only a once a year tradition, I don't think I could handle it more than that!

Eyelashes

The other day Reagan and Oakley were taking a bath together and Reagan starting giggling (not uncommon at all for her...).  I asked her what was so funny and she said, "Just look at Oakley!  He looks like a girl!  His eyelashes are so long!"  It was true, Oakley normally does have amazing eyelashes but when they are wet they are even more amazing.  I couldn't resist but to snap a few pictures of my two monkeys playing in the tub!

Reagan has pretty amazing eyelashes herself.  So thick, so long, so beautiful!

Superbowl deliciousness

I honestly could not care less who plays in the Superbowl.  But I do love getting together with a bunch of people and eating yummy food.  Cami & Clint and Austin & Melissa all brought a delicious variety of food.  With the wellness challenge I have been doing I didn't want to undo all the good I have done so I tried to have healthy options as well as the good old standbys.

We had little smokies wrapped in bacon with brown sugar and honey...not so healthy but oh, so good!

 And a shrimp dip, I don't eat seafood but everyone who tried this said it was very yummy!

 There was chocolate covered pretzels that we forgot to get out but trust me they are good and good for you!

 There was some pretzel jello with mixed berries on top that is to die for!  I think I ate half the pan of this!

 The corn and black bean salsa was so yummy too, I could not stop eating this either!

 Then there was the chicken wrapped in turkey bacon that was marinated over night in bbq sauce, it was supposed to be so wonderful and only 25 calories per chicken!!! ...well it got forgotten in the oven and stayed in there for about three hours when it was only supposed to cook for 30-40 minutes...I was so sad when Cami asked about them and I realized they were still in the oven.  Bruce took them out and put them outside for them to cool off.  Later on that night I let Dory out to go potty and she ended up eating half the pan!  Guess they were still yummy even when burnt to a crisp! 

I am going to have to try this one again, I was looking forward to trying these, I just can't forget them next time!

It was a great night and we did have fun, there was much more food that I didn't take pictures of.  We all ate so much and still had so much food left over.  I was sure I would never eat again but oddly enough I was hungry when I woke up this morning...

Eight months

Oakley turned eight months on January 30, 2011.  He has had quite the fun month.

*He FINALLY started rolling over!

*He is eating baby food twice a day, we try three times but he will usually only eat a third to a half of a jar on the third feeding.

*He can get on all fours from the sitting position and rocks back and forth

*He rolls and scoots and wiggles to get to where he needs to be, I can't believe how much space he can cover.

*He is starting to get very hard headed.  If he wants something (ex. to nurse) he won't change his mind to do something else (ex. eat baby food)

*He is very wiggly when you try to hold him but he hates being put down

*He likes non-toys like cell phones, remotes, calculators and XBOX paddles

*He loves to babble and has the cutest facial expressions as if he is talking

*He loves to hold on to the side of the couch while standing but he really can't stand yet he just thinks he is

*He loves to sleep in bed with me and Bruce but I try not to let him do that too much!

*He still is toothless

*He still loves to be cuddled

Here are a lot of pictures since I really didn't have many pictures for his seven month.  He does have a cold right now so it makes his eczema flare up so that's why he has some rashes on his face and why his nose is raw.  But I think he is still pretty darn cute!